Tuesday, October 5, 2010
South Sudan Is Below Third World Status
click to read full story from ChristianPost.com
Mon, Sep. 20, 2010
The standard of life in South Sudan is so far behind modern society that it dreams to one day reach Third World status, says the head of a missions group that works in the region.
So if South Sudan voted to secede from the North in the January referendum, it would need “a lot of external help,” warns Bill Deans, president of Mustard Seed International.
“For the past three generations they’ve been in war. Every family is touched by that,” reports Deans, whose organization ministers to the "least of these."
“There is a great number of orphans, the infrastructure in the South is non-existent, there are no pave roads, thus the ability for the South to sustain itself is not there,” he adds.
Deans also emphasizes how there are no education or medical infrastructures in the region.
“It is going to take a lot of external help for that to happen over a period of time,” Deans says. “They have been so isolated for the past 25 years.”
Sudan is just four months away from a critical referendum in which the South can vote to break away from the North.
For more than 21 years, the predominantly Muslim North and the animist and Christian South fought in a bloody civil war that left some 2 million civilians dead and more than 4 million people displaced. The war also destroyed an estimated 500 churches in Southern Sudan.
In 2005, however, the two sides signed the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war. The CPA called for a government of national unity to be formed for a transitional period of six years. After this time, the South could vote to be autonomous. Many analysts expect the south to vote for independence on January 9, 2011.
It is amid the desperate need for medical care after years of war that Mustard Seed International established the Akot Medical Mission in 2006. The clinic is literally in the middle of the brush – where there is not even a grocery store nearby – and provides the only medical care in the area.
“For us to build this facility was nothing short of a miracle,” says Deans, who noted the only building material on the site was the dirt. Every other material – from cement to nails – for the clinic was trucked or flown in from Kenya or Uganda.
“It is just a miracle that a facility like that can exist in the bush of South Sudan,” he remarks. “The people say it is the best facility in the whole country. But we have nothing to gauge that on because we have not been all over the country.”
In South Sudan, there is an average of one doctor per 100,000 people.
According to a report published by UNICEF in 2004, the infant mortality rate in South Sudan is 15 percent while the child mortality rate is 25 percent. About one in nine mothers die during pregnancy or childbirth and only five percent of births are attended by trained health care workers. The malnutrition rate, meanwhile, stands at 48 percent and severe malnutrition is over 21 percent. A U.N. official recently called South Sudan the hungriest place on earth.
Every year, the Akot Medical Mission provides direct medical attention to more than 30,000 people.
But Deans notes how very expensive it is to operate the clinic because of the transportation costs. He says it costs $10,000 to fly in $10,000-worth of medicine. MSI’s total budget for the South Sudan operation, however, is only $300,000. And for the past two years, the MSI board decided to shift funds to help the clinic stay open despite shortfall.
“We are a small organization,” says Deans, who became Mustard Seed International’s president in 2002 on the condition that all the staff work as volunteers. “We get it done. We don’t have the big publicity budget.”
Despite the constant financial struggle to keep the operation in “off-the-radar” South Sudan going, Deans says he finds his job “rewarding” and “good.”
“I’m working harder than I ever worked in my life running businesses,” he jokes.
Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Church of England Survey Finds Christianity For Young People a "Faded Memory'
click to read full story from ChristianPost.com
Tue, Oct. 05, 2010
Posted: 08:50 AM EDT
LONDON – Most young people consider Christianity irrelevant to their lives but they are not as hostile towards religion as their parents’ generation, researchers in the Church of England have found.
The researchers surveyed 300 young people from Generation Y – those born after 1982 – who had attended a Christian youth or community project. The five-year study looked at their faith in relation to Christianity and the impact of Christian youth and community work on their faith development.
It found that young people were more likely to put their faith in friends, their family or themselves than in God.
Sylvia Collins-Mayo, a sociologist of religion and one of the researchers behind the study, said: “For the majority, religion and spirituality was irrelevant for day-to-day living; our young people were not looking for answers to ultimate questions and showed little sign of ‘pick and mix’ spirituality.”
She said that young people only sought a religious perspective on “rare occasions” and that when they did, they often "made do" with a “very faded, inherited cultural memory of Christianity in the absence of anything else.”
This tended to be in times of difficulty, for example, after suffering a bereavement or illness in the family.
“In this respect they would sometimes pray in their bedrooms,” she said. “What is salutary for the Church is that generally young people seemed quite content with this situation, happy to get by with what little they knew about the Christian faith.”
The findings suggested that while Christian youth projects were an important source of support for young Christians, they had little impact on the faith of the non-churchgoers who took part in them.
Among the infrequent churchgoers, 28 percent said belonging to a Christian youth group had made them think more about the purpose of life. Thirty per cent said it had made them think more about God, 26 percent about Jesus, and 54 percent about what was right and wrong.
Infrequent churchgoers tended to be uncertain about the nature of God, with 23 percent saying they believed God was someone they could know personally, 22 percent saying they believed in some sort of higher power or life force but not a personal God, and 12% saying that they did not think there was any sort of God, higher power or life force. Forty-three per cent said they did not know what to think about God.
“The Christian youth and community projects were an important source of Christian faith support for the minority of young people who were already actively involved in Church," Collins-Mayo said. “For the majority, however, the Christian dimension of the projects had little impact on them beyond keeping the plausibility of Christian belief and practices alive.”
The results of the study have been published in a new book, The Faith of Generation Y. Collins-Mayo said that while Generation Y is largely unfamiliar with formal religion, it still takes a keen interest in ethical issues.
“The young people drew moral guidance from family as friends, but they also recognized the potential of religion, including Christianity, to provide them with guidelines for living,” she said.
The researchers say that the common assumption that teenagers are alienated from their parents and hostile towards religion is a hangover from the Sixties and Seventies and no longer applicable to today’s young people.
The book states: “Generation Y have less cultural hang ups about the Church than did their predecessors … The challenge to the Church is to provide them with the opportunities to explore and to learn about a narrative of belief of which they know little.”
The Faith of Generation Y is joint authored by Sylvia Collins-Mayo, West London priest Bob Mayo, and the director of the Midlands Centre for Youth Ministry, Sally Nash.
Jenna Lyle
Christian Today Reporter
Monday, October 4, 2010
Artist Paints Jesus Christ In Pornographic Paintings Draws Protests
link to original story
LOVELAND, Colo. - The exhibit is the work of Stanford University Professor, Enrique Chaagoya, entitled "The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals" and will run through the end of November. Some say the pictures of Jesus show him in 'oral sex' positions, which they find to be pornographic in nature.
"We don't think our savior should be put in those kind of poses," said Steven Gergory. "I love art, but this isn't art."
Deacon Ed Armijo of St. John's Catholic Church says he has seen the display and is appalled by the thought of Jesus Christ being put in this light.
"We think it is just porn," said Armijo. We will be out front of the museum Friday at 10:30 in the morning."
The work is part of a show that also played in Denver the first half of last year, and FOX31 News was told that there were no issues with the show. In Loveland, the City Council, which helps operate the Museum, voted this week to keep the show running.
Still, some think the picture of Christ is offensive.
Bud Shark, who is putting on the exhibit in the show entitled, "The Legend of Bud Shark and his Indelible Ink," is from Lyons and the show is selected works of various artists who have visited and created art, here in Colorado.
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JMC Ministries Response
Why is it ok to draw Jesus this way and they uphold that it is freedom of speech but when it's another religion they shut it down because they don't want to offend anyone?
This is a blat-tan attack on the Christian Faith and all it stands for because the bible says that homosexuality and Sodomy is a sin. They can say it is artistic expression but we know it is just pornographic smut. That attacks the beliefs of the Christian Faith.
We pray for this man that he will see the truth and that Jesus loves him and allow Jesus to come into his heart and start making art that will inspire people to help one another and reach out to help those in need like Jesus did.
North Carolina: Student Shot And Killed At Christian University
Click to read full story from wavy.com
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) - Monday classes have been canceled at Mid-Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City, N.C., after a tragic shooting over the weekend. School officials say local ministers and counselors will be available throughout the day to help students grieve the loss of their classmate.
According to police, one student shot another inside a dorm room in Pearl Presley Hall Sunday afternoon. The student accused of the deadly shooting willingly surrendered himself to police, according to the university. He has not been charged with anything and is not in custody at this time though, according to Elizabeth City Police.
Officers responded to the call of a gunshot victim just before 1:00 p.m. in the 700 block of N. Poindexter Street. Upon arrival they discovered a male student with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police report. The victim has been identified as Jonathan Schipper, a sophomore at the university.
The last place students at Mid-Atlantic Christian University expected to see violence was at their own school.
"Violence is unacceptable wherever it happens," said Mid-Atlantic President Dr. Clay Perkins.
But Sunday, the small campus of just 180 students turned into a crime scene. School officials say a fight between two students became deadly.
"The mood is just shock," Dr. Perkins added. "There are lots of hugs and lots of tears. The university is in pain."
The campus was put on lockdown following the shooting. Crime scene tape wrapped around the residence hall as detectives and school officials looked for answers.
"The why questions are abundant at the moment," said Dr. Perkins. "I don't even have those answers."
The answers could help provide comfort for the student who are leaning on each other for support.
"We are a family," Dr. Perkins added. "This will affect us for years to come. This is an ugly incident that happened in a good place."
Travel Alert Issued For U.S Citizens In Fear Of Terrorists Attacks In Europe
(CNN) -- The United States issued a general travel alert for Americans in Europe on Sunday amid concerns that al Qaeda or related groups plan attacks similar to the 2008 massacre in the Indian city of Mumbai.
"U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling," the notice from the U.S. State Department said. "We continue to work closely with our European allies on the threat from international terrorism, including al Qaeda."
The advisory is not meant to tell Americans to avoid travel, but to take "common-sense precautions" in case of trouble, Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy told reporters Sunday.
"If they see unattended packages or hear loud noises or see something beginning to happen that they should quickly move away from them," he said. The warning urges them to be cautious in public places like tourist sites and airports or while riding public transportation, and Americans should know how to contact the U.S. Embassy and consider registering their travel plans there, he said.
In addition, thousands of U.S. troops based in Germany were placed under a curfew Friday night and were ordered not to wear their uniforms off base, according to an order obtained by CNN.
The State Department said worldwide travel alerts have been issued for U.S. citizens in the past, most recently in early September after the pastor of a small Florida church threatened to burn copies of the Quran, the Islamic holy book.
Previous alerts were issued after the 2004 al Qaeda bombings of commuter trains in Spain's capital Madrid and after the 2005 bombings of subway trains and buses in London, England.
Suicides Of Baby-Boomers Generation On The Rise
click to read full story from CNN
(CNN) -- "I hate him. I'm so mad. I love him. I miss him. I want him back," Christine Lopez's thoughts twisted and churned.
Questions swirled. A void swelled. And their 4-year-old son tugged at her, asking about Daddy.
Her husband committed suicide in 2007.
"It's not like he died in a traffic accident," she said. "All these thoughts were running through my head. I lost my future -- the man I was in love with, my son's father. Who do I blame?"
David Sklar, 43 and a part of the baby boomer generation, grappled with depression and chronic pain.
In the last 11 years, as more baby boomers entered midlife, the suicide rates in this age group have increased, according to an analysis in the September-October issue of the journal Public Health Reports.
The assumption was that "middle age was the most stable time of your life because you're married, you're settled, you had a job. Suicide rates are stable because their lives are stable," said Dr. Paula Clayton, the medical director for the American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide.
But this assumption may be shifting.
Dashed expectations, economic woes, depression or chronic medical problems -- these may be factors why the suicide rates for middle-aged Americans have increased.
Surveys of baby boomers have shown a tone of disappointment.
"So many expected to be in better health and expected to be better off than they are," said Julie Phillips, lead author of the study assessing recent changes in suicide rates. "Surveys suggest they had high expectations. Things haven't worked out that way in middle age."
Richard Croker, author of "The Boomer Century, 1946-2046: How America's Most Influential Generation Changed Everything," said, "From Dr. Spock to Annette Funicello, growing up in the '50s and '60s, we grew up thinking we were special. Somehow, we metamorphosed from peace, love and happiness to a me generation."
"We started accumulating wealth and began focusing on providing for ourselves and our families. That's what we did and now, we're beginning to look around. What's it all about?" he said. "Many of us are divorced. Our families are spread to the seven winds. We're disappointed."
Baby boomers (defined in the study as born between 1945 and 1964) are in a peculiar predicament.
"Historically, the elderly have had the highest rates of suicide," said Phillips, a professor of sociology at Rutgers University. "What is so striking about these figures is that starting in 2005, suicide rates among the middle aged [45-64 years of age] are the highest of all age groups."
The 45-54 age group had the highest suicide rate in 2006 and 2007, with 17.2 per 100,000. Meanwhile, suicide rates in adolescents and the elderly have begun to decline, she said.
"What's notable here is that the recent trend among boomers is opposite to what we see among other cohorts and that it's a reversal of a decades-long trend among the middle-aged," said Phillips, who along with Ellen Idler, a sociologist at Emory University, and two other authors used data from the National Vital Statistics System.
Baby boomers had higher rates of depression during their adolescence. One theory is that as they aged, this disposition followed them through the course of their lives.
"The age group as teenagers, it was identified they had higher rates of depression than people born 10 or 20 years earlier -- it's called a cohort effect," said Clayton, from the American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide, who read the study.
But none of these factors adequately explain why one individual commits suicide.
U.S Judge Asks Vatican To Serve Court Papers to Pope
click to read full story from Fox News
MILWAUKEE – A federal U.S. judge is asking the Vatican to cooperate in serving the pope and two other top officials with court papers that stem from decades-old allegations of sexual abuse by a priest in Wisconsin.
The request is an incremental step in a lawsuit that accuses the officials of conspiring to keep the allegations against the Milwaukee priest quiet. The Vatican is not obliged to comply with the request.
When faced with similar requests the Vatican has made service difficult, time-consuming and expensive by insisting, for example, that documentation be translated into Latin, one of the Vatican's official languages.
Mike Finnegan, the attorney representing the Chicago-based plaintiff, said Friday he's not holding out hope that the Vatican reverses course and begins to cooperate now.
"Based on what they've done in other cases, I don't expect them to do the right thing," he said. "I expect more delay and obstruction."
Jeffrey Lena, the Vatican's U.S.-based attorney, said he hadn't seen the court request and couldn't comment on whether the Vatican would comply with it.
The lawsuit, filed in April in U.S. federal court, names as defendants Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI; Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, and his predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
It claims the three men knew about allegations of sexual abuse at a Milwaukee-area school for the deaf, and called off internal punishment of the accused priest. The Rev. Lawrence Murphy, who died in 1998, was accused of sexually abusing some 200 boys at the school from 1950 to 1974.
Lena has called the lawsuit a publicity stunt and said it rehashes theories already rejected by U.S. courts.
"This is a minor procedural step by plaintiff's lawyers in a meritless lawsuit," he said. He added that it refers to abuse that occurred in the 1970s, which he said was more than 20 years before the Holy See first learned of the priest's actions.
The Vatican has argued that it isn't liable for clerical sex-abuse cases because according to canon law and the structure of the Catholic Church, bishops — not Rome — are responsible for disciplining pedophile priests.
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JMC Ministries Response
If they are going to do this then shouldn't they be sending out court papers to the leaders of the Muslim world when there people have gone on trial for killing thousands? It just doesn't make since. It seems they are trying to put the entire Catholic Faith on trial. No matter what religion you may be, there will always be people who do evil things. Satan gets a hold of peoples minds and put horrible evil thoughts that he eats a way at them with until they cave in and act upon those temptations.
Do we think the Pope is personally connected with this, no we don't. Just as other leaders in the Christian Faith are not connected with what this Pastor In Florida who is being accused of sexual abuse and is on Trial for. People make their own choices in life.
We are sure the Pope knows what is going on and is informed of this trial but what good is it to try and place him on the stand other than to ask him if he knew anything about this and what did he try to do to rectify the situation.
It is horrible that Children are being abused by people of the Christian Faith, and we must pray for them that they turn from this evil behavior that destroys lives and scars people from even wanting to be a Christian and go to church. These kind of things are just giving people more and more excuses not to go to church. We must pray for the pastors, bishops, priests and all that are in leadership in churches. That they be the example of Christ and share His love.
We must also pray for the victims of the abusers. That they be comforted by the Holy Spirit and that God bring healing to their bodies, hearts and souls.
There has been too many of these kinds of stories popping up around the Country and World. As Christians and people of Faith we must watch and listen and pay attention in our churches if we think abuse is going on, say something before it get's to this level. Abuse needs to stop and only through the Love of Christ and his guidance can there really be an end to it.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Army Post To Host Christian Outreach Event Despite Protests
A Christian event tied to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will take place Saturday at an army post in North Carolina despite protests from church-state separation groups
Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, assured protesters that the “Rock the Fort” event does not violate anybody’s rights.
“I have taken steps to ensure that no soldier in my command is pressured in any way to attend this event,” wrote Helmick in a letter to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist-agnostic group that opposed the event.
Helmick noted that the event occurs at an off-duty time for most soldiers at Fort Bragg and that the Constitution allows for the military to have chaplains and for the Corps to offer religious events to soldiers at the Installations.
In the letter, he also noted that the opportunity offered to the evangelical faith is open to all faiths.
Earlier this week, FFRF and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) sent letters to Army officials protesting the Army-hosted, church-supported outreach event. They called for the event to be canceled, arguing that it violates the Constitution.
“It’s not the Army’s job to convert Americans to Christianity,” contended the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “The Army has ... overstepped the constitutional line by sponsoring the event.”
Although Charlotte-based BGEA has sponsored “Rock the Post” events at military bases across the nation, Saturday will be the first time the ministry has opened a military-hosted event to the public.
Saturday’s “Rock the Fort” event is sponsored by BGEA and organized by Fort Bragg chaplains and some 20 local churches. On its website, the BGEA explained that many of the soldiers and their families stationed at Fort Bragg do not live on the post but in the surrounding area. Therefore, the ministry and chaplains decided to open the event up to the public so those not living on the grounds can attend.
Aside from being BGEA’s first military-hosted event to be opened to the public, “Rock the Fort” will be the first to offer a kids program. According to BGEA, there is somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 children at Fort Bragg.
“There is a lot of stress in that particular area for school age children because of deployments,” said Wanda McCurdy, the BGEA staff who will lead the children’s event, according to the ministry. “Moms and Dads both are leaving to go overseas and children have to contend with everyday stuff, plus the fact that Mom or Dad is in Afghanistan or Iraq.
“That is why we felt it was important to offer something for the kids,” she added, “to give them an opportunity to know that there’s a safe place and a relationship you can count on to give you peace and security during tough times.”
McCurdy also highlighted how many soldiers at Fort Bragg recently returned home and how the event may likely be the family’s first outing in a long time.